Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information, you confirm you are aged 16 or over, have read our Privacy Policy and agree to the Terms & Conditions. Geographical rules apply.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
  • Home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
Trending
  • Summer Preview
  • Prime Day deals
  • New Games 2026
  • Best gaming tech
  • GTA 6
  • Submit your clips. Win prizes
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
  1. Games
  2. Battle Royale
  3. Call of Duty: Warzone

How to get Golden Keycards and open Mercenary Vaults in Warzone

Guides
By Joel Franey published 24 June 2022

Mercenary Bunker locations and finding Key Cards in COD: Warzone

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Warzone Golden Keycards how to find Mercenary Vaults locations
(Image credit: Activision)
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Subscribe to our newsletter

Warzone Golden Keycards and Mercenary Vaults are a massive part of Season 4, as the new Caldera keycards allow players to open bunkers filled with the aforementioned Vaults - and these vault bunkers can be looted for some of the best weapons and gear in Call of Duty Warzone, a huge help when you're heading across the Caldera map. 

Players can get Gold Keycards by completing contracts and opening crates, or even as a potential reward for killing other players and teams (something you'll ideally be doing anyway). The Mercenary Vault and Bunker locations are actually marked on the main map clearly, though recognising what you're looking for is a little unclear without prior knowledge. We'll explain their role in Warzone Season 4 in more detail below, as well as how to get the Golden Keycards and where to find the Mercenary Vault locations and Bunkers spread around the Warzone Caldera map.

How to get Golden Keycards for bunkers in Warzone

Warzone Golden Key Cards how to find Mercenary Vaults locations

Getting Golden Keycards in Warzone to open bunkers is a largely luck-based experience. There are three possible methods that can provide Golden Keycards, but none are guaranteed to work:

- Opening crates

- Completing Contracts

- Killing players who have them and taking them off them

All of these have a pretty small chance of providing a Golden Keycard, and the last of these - killing other players - is purely dependent on whether they were already holding one when you killed them (it's not going to create a Card out of nowhere). 

From what we can tell, Contract completion has a slightly higher probability of dropping Golden Keycards than crates do, but considering how much longer Contracts take to complete than just kicking open boxes, it doesn't add up to much. There's also no distinction between Contracts that we know of - from what we can tell, ANY of them have a (small) chance of dropping Golden Keycards as a reward.

Latest Videos From
Watch full video here:

Otherwise, make sure to flip open every crate you can find, as any of them could provide the literal Golden Ticket you're looking for. Go through key locations with lots of crates, or go safer and comb less-populated zones - there'll either be lots of chests, or you'll find more unopened ones.

Alternatively, the other (unpopular) option is to camp the bunker entrances to the Mercenary Vaults. If a player finds a Golden Keycard, it can't serve any function other than opening the Vaults and Bunkers, so just watch the door with a shotgun and shoot anybody who shows up. Then peel the bloody Keycard out of their fingers and help yourself to the ill-gotten goods. It's not guaranteed that anybody will show up, but if all the chests around you are looted and you're not feeling optimistic about completing a contract, this can work. Of course, to do this you actually need to know where the bunkers are.

You may like
  • Hidden Bunker entrance in Arc Raiders Hidden Bunker event guide for Arc Raiders
  • Arc Raiders blueprints How to get all Blueprints in Arc Raiders
  • Arc Raiders A First Foothold quest walkthrough in Arc Raiders

All Warzone Mercenary Vault and Bunker locations

Warzone Golden Keycards how to find Mercenary Vaults locations

(Image credit: Activision)

There are a total of seven Mercenary Vaults in Warzone's Caldera Map, hidden in bunkers underground.

  1. Between Docks and Factory
  2. Southwest of Runway
  3. Between Dig Site and Mines
  4. North of Fields
  5. Between Lagoon and Airfield
  6. Southeast of Power Plant
  7. Northwest of Resort

They're actually marked on the default map with scribbled Yellow Circles, though admittedly the game doesn't tell you that's what the yellow circles denote. There's also no meaningful difference between the bunkers - loot is randomised in this regard.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Once you're in the circle and the match has started, look for a circular vault door icon on the map in that area, labelled "Transit". It marks the actual entrance to the Vault Bunker, usually a heavily reinforced circular hatch like the one displayed below. Keep in mind that these Transit markers won't appear on the map until the match has properly started and the drop plane is gone!

Warzone Golden Keycards how to find Mercenary Vaults locations

(Image credit: Activision)

Find the hatch, climb down the ladder and you'll be in a small underground area, with a few scattered bits of loot if you're lucky, and some doors that won't open. You can probably guess the next bit.

How to open Mercenary Vaults and bunkers in Warzone

Warzone season 4 mercenaries of fortune update Call of Duty

(Image credit: Activision)

Once you're inside the Bunker and looking for the Mercenary Vaults, you'll find some doors that require the Golden Keycards to open. It might seem like you're being prompted to make a choice if there's more than one, but it isn't - all the doors to the Vault open when one of them does, and they all lead to the same interconnected rooms. Simply approach the panel and interact with it when prompted - it'll use the key card and the Vault will be yours to plunder.

Mercenary Vault Rewards

Warzone Golden keycards how to find Mercenary Vaults locations

(Image credit: Activision)
Warzone Terminator skins

Warzone terminator t800 t1000

(Image credit: Activision)

Want to know about the upcoming Warzone Terminator crossover and how to get the T-800 and T-1000 skins? Click the link!

Once you open the Vault, you'll get a lot of prizes. They're filled with the orange "legendary" crates, more than enough to equip you and your team with the Warzone best guns, perks and killstreaks, as well lots of Cash - so you could always just go and buy a loadout drop if you didn't find anything you liked. There's also a good amount of experience earned simply for opening the Vault, even if you never get round to looting its contents.

Keep in mind that this is a one-off - while you can find more Golden Keycards and Mercenary Vaults in the same match, the key cards themselves are single-use consumables, and get destroyed when you open the doors. Any loot you leave behind could also be taken by other players - the Vault doors won't close - so make sure you get the very best of what's there.

Warzone Ricochet anti cheat | Call of Duty Warzone tips | Warzone Error codes | Is Warzone down? | Warzone Patch notes | Warzone best SMGs | Warzone best sniper | Warzone best LMG | Warzone PDS | Warzone Sabotage Contract 

Joel Franey
Joel Franey
Social Links Navigation
Guides Editor, GamesRadar+

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.

Read more
Hidden Bunker entrance in Arc Raiders
Third Person Shooters Hidden Bunker event guide for Arc Raiders
 
 
Arc Raiders blueprints
Third Person Shooters How to get all Blueprints in Arc Raiders
 
 
Arc Raiders
Third Person Shooters A First Foothold quest walkthrough in Arc Raiders
 
 
Fortnite New Sanctuary vault
Fortnite How to open the New Sanctuary vault in Fortnite
 
 
Starfield Anchorpoint Defunct Safe and clue locations
RPGs How to open the Anchorpoint Defunct Safe in Starfield
 
 
borderlands 4 shift codes
Borderlands All Borderlands 4 Shift Codes (June 2026) and how to redeem for Golden Keys and Skins
 
 
Latest in Battle Royale
One of the Fortnite Sprites on a player's back
Fortnite Fortnite Sprites explained and how to level up your collection
 
 
Fortnite John Wick's dog after being released from the cage
Fortnite How to rescue or pet John Wick's dog in Fortnite
 
 
Fortnite Dark Voyager
Fortnite How to find and damage Dark Voyager in Fortnite
 
 
Final Sentence character with a gun aimed at him
Battle Royale Games Viral dev tells players "don't buy this game" on Steam yet because it's about to go on sale
 
 
Fortnite Community Day
Fortnite When is Fortnite Community Day and what rewards can you earn?
 
 
Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin and Baby Yoda in the snow in The Mandalorian and Grogu
Star Wars Movies One Star Wars fan has given us a Mandalorian and Grogu homestead tour, and now I really want to live there
 
 
Latest in Guides
A witch tends to her familiars in Witchspire
Survival Games Which Familiar in Witchspire should you choose?
 
 
Fabled Legacy codes
Action RPGs Fabled Legacy codes (June 2026) and how to redeem them for Gems, Dawnbreak Coins, and more
 
 
Witchspire
Survival Games Which class in Witchspire should you pick?
 
 
Blox Monsters codes
Adventure Games Blox Monsters codes (June 2026) and how to redeem them for rerolls, fruit, and more
 
 
Forza Horizon 6 astrotoy photo challenge orange mercedes track toy car in front of rocket launch facility
Forza Horizon Forza Horizon 6 Space Port and Track Toy Photo Challenge location
 
 
Destiny 2 Oblation Exotic mission collecting Cull's Shadow exotic weapon
Destiny How to get the Destiny 2 Cull's Shadow Exotic weapon and complete Oblation
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. X-Men '97 season 2
    1
    X-Men '97 season 2 review: "Proves why the mutants are cooler than the Avengers"
  2. 2
    God of War Laufey's Faye allowed Sony Santa Monica to merge the series' old and new eras: "Can I have chocolate and peanut butter together?"
  3. 3
    After Final Fantasy 7 Revelation wraps up, the remake's director wants to work on another JRPG: "Whether it be Final Fantasy or a different IP"
  4. 4
    Palworld 1.0 is "bigger in scale than any update" the game's gotten, but Pocketpair still isn't adding Pokemon-style Pal evolutions
  5. 5
    Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis brings back separate difficulty options from Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which is perfect for yellow paint haters

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...